Monthly Archives: August 2014

Back in 2010, Stark House Press published my first novel, Thief of Midnight. Today I can report that the sequel is finally on its way! Coming in 2015, the next instalment in the adventures of one small group of Chicago monster-hunters: Fell the Angels. Or as I like to call this one: Four Bodies, No Insurance.

What’s it about? Well …

A month after a ruinous assault by a family of bogeymen, the few humans in the know are still recovering and trying to figure out what they’ll do next. Abby Marquise is waiting for her son, Jimmy, to be returned by the forces that took him, but she’s still not sure if she can square her job with parenthood. (Intimidating therianthropes isn’t a common domestic skill.) It doesn’t help that Chicago looks to be ringing in the New Year with a string of mysterious deaths. The victims? Sorcerers, the rare human practitioners of magic, who are dying in inexplicable ways. Who’s the Crystal Lady? Where did those strange dolls come from? And what’s big enough to tear a human in half … vertically?

I think you’ll like the answers.

This is a book I’ve been working on since 2007. It’s been my experience that things are always hardest the second time, and Fell the Angels did not disappoint me in that regard. It’s also a new direction for me: there’s a cameo by some certain fear-based folkloric monsters, but this book is more of a straight mystery and an opportunity to see the human agents from Thief of Midnight working in their own sphere. Chicago is an old town full of dark corners, and I’m thrilled that Stark House has given me the opportunity to share another story inspired by the Windy City (and torment these characters a little more).

And now, because I’m excited and feel like sharing, here’s a short excerpt from Fell the Angels. The text is still subject to revision (ahh, the editing process) and is, of course, copyright yours truly. 🙂

This was shared with me by the eminent Rick Ollerman, who tagged me before I could escape. But who am I to pass up a chance to talk about books?

What am I working on? Multiple projects. I’ve just begun editing a para-rom, The God Collector, and am hard at work on the third SSR book, Velvetopia.

How does my work differ from others of its genre? I like to focus on classic legends and folktale monsters which are neglected or under-explored in modern fiction. Thief of Midnight is a day in the sun (so to speak) for the old-school bogeyman, while The God Collector takes a new angle on the cliche Egyptian mummy story. Humanity has rich, varied folklore, and I think urban fantasy is missing an opportunity by not exploring it.

Why do I write what I do? Three words: Uncensored Fairy Tales. My parents told us all kinds of stories, and we were living in a city with an incredible, bloody history of its own. It was inevitable.

How does my writing process work? First I scribble ideas on any piece of paper to hand, usually in a cheap composition notebook. Transcribe, refine, copy-and-paste, write new pieces on paper and save any old files I cast off. A plot eventually evolves from the primordial slime. I do write plot outlines, but I always keep it loose because things can change a lot. I’ve never finished a book without looking at my own work and saying “Huh. Didn’t see THAT coming.”

My name is Catherine Butzen, and I write stories. I never consciously decided to take this tack with my life; it just seemed to happen, and I can’t say I regret it. I tell stories because I love stories.

I was born in January 1988 and grew up in Chicago, Illinois, as the fourth of five children. Unlike my siblings I started reading late, but my parents had already instilled a love of stories thanks to their habit of sharing books with the family. After dinner, two or three of us would do the dishes while the rest took turns reading aloud from the book of the moment. Family outings took advantage of the cheap yearly memberships at the museum campus, and I quickly developed a taste for history and weird trivia. Somewhere along the line I began making up stories, and before you knew it I was declaring an English major and scribbling notes about a family of bogeymen that resembled a mafia. Fate: sealed.

My first book, the urban fantasy-horror story Thief of Midnight, was published by Stark House Press in 2010; a sequel is forthcoming. Urban fantasy is my passion, but I also crossed over into paranormal romance for The God Collector, which has been contracted by Samhain Publishing and is coming out next year.

Today I write to entertain. Whether I’ve succeeded? Well, I leave that up to you. I’ll be blogging here intermittently to share book news, interesting tidbits, writing notes, excerpts, and other bits and pieces.

I should probably apologize for or justify the blog title, but honestly? I just like terrible puns.